Curtain-stretcher.



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o 8 H. A. SCHWARZ.

CURTAIN STRETGHER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 13, 1907. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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W/TNESSES UNTE Ir HELENA A. SCHWARZ, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

CURTAIN -STRETCI-IER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Deo. 31, 1907.

Application filed April 13 1907. Serial No. 368,098,

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HELENA A. SCHWARZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain- Stretchers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to curtain stretchers, and consists in certain combinations of parts and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter fully set forth and then particularly pointed out in the claims which conclude this application.

The object of my present invention is to improve upon the construction shown and described 1n Letters Patent No. 632,867,

'issued to me September 12, 1899.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1, is an elevation showing my improved curtain stretcher suspended from an ordinary clothes line, Fig. 2, a section at the line oo, x, of Fig. 1, Fig. 3, a section at the line y, y, of Fig. 1, Fig. 4, a section at the line .2, 2, of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5, an edge elevation of my improved curtain stretcher.

Similar numbers of reference denote like parts in the several iigures of the drawing.

One side of my improved stretcher is composed of two bars 1, 2, having their inner ends abutting; on top of these bars and bridging these abutting ends is aplate 3, while against the bottom faces of these bars are the ends of a hanger bracket 4, said plate, bars and bracket ends being secured together by means of thumb bolts 5 extending therethrough and engaging nuts 6 immediately below the under faces of the bracket ends. The lower portion of said bracket is formed into a housing 7 which is considerably below the plane of the lower faces of the bars 1, 2, for the purpose presently to be explained. The other side of my improved stretcher is likewise formed of side bars 8, 9, whose ends abut as inthe instance of the bars 1, 2. U on the upper faces of these bars 8, 9, is a p ate which is disposed in the same manner as is the plate 3, while against the under faces of these bars are .the ends of a hanger bracket 11, said parts' being secured together by means of thumb bolts 12 passed through Said plate, bars and bracket ends and engaging with nuts 13 immediately below the under faces of said ends. The lower portion of this bracket 11 is formed into a housing 14 which is close to the plane of the under surface of these bars 8, 9, for the purpose presently to be explained.

15, 16, are the cross bars at the o osite ends of my improved stretcher, sai bars abutting at their inner ends against the inner edges of the side bars 8, 9, so that said bars will all be in the same plane.

17, 18, are metal straps which pass freely around the outer sides of the ends of the bars 8, 9, and embrace the ends of the cross bars 15, 16, and 19, 20, are thumb bolts which are passed through the ends of said straps and the cross bars 15, 16, and are engaged with nuts 21, 21a, immediately below the lower portions of said stra s, whereby said straps will aiiord housings or these bars 8, 9, and will permit the latter to pass freely therethrough.

The side bars 1, 2, are located on top of the opposite ends of the cross bars 15, 16, so that it will be clear that these bars 1, 2, are in a plane beyond that of the other bars heretofore mentioned, and accordingly the housing 7 is extended beyond the plane of the lower surfaces of these bars 1, 2, whereby said housing will be opposite to and in the same plane with the housing 14, so that the middle cross bar 22 may be passed through these housings and extended in a plane parallel with the planes of all the bars before mentioned. The tightening of the bolts 5 and 12 clam s this bar 22 firmly in position against the libttom surfaces of the side bars 8, 9, which suflices to hold this bar 22 in place, and the stretcherframe at its middle portion is very rigid without the aid of any hinges whatsoever.

The outer ends of the bars 1, 2, are secured upon the ends of the cross bars 15, 16, by means of ordinary thumb bolts 23 passed through elongated slots a, l), in these bars and engaging nuts 24 on the bottom faces of the bars 15, 16, this method of adjustment being very ordinary. By loosening the bolts 23, the bars 1, 2, of the frame may be adjusted closer to or farther away from the bars 8, 9, as the occasion may demand, thus making the frame narrower or wider, and, bearing in mind that the bars 8, 9, can pass freely through the straps 17, 18, the loosening of these same bolts 23 will permit the end cross bars to be adjusted closer to or further away from yeach other, thus shortening or lengthening the frame.

Within the inner edges of the end cross bars 15, 16, and the side bars 1, 2, 8, 9, are formed T-grooves within which are assembled the heel ends of suitable spurs to the points of which latter the edges of a curtain are attached. The grooves within the bars 1, 2, are designated by the numerals 25, 26,

respectively, the grooves within the opposite bars 8, 9, being designated bythe numerals 27, 2S, while the grooves within the cross bars 15, 16, are designated by the numerals 29, 30. All the spurs have T-heads which fit loosely within these grooves and are capable of free sliding movements lengthwise therethrough, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, being the spurs which are assembled within the grooves 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, respectively. y

It is quite essential that all the spur points should be in the same plane so that the curtain may be stretched evenly, and therefore the spurs within the grooves in the bars 1, 2,

are formed with downwardly bent portions 37, 38, so as to bring the points of these spurs into the same plane with the points of the remaining s urs.

From t e foregoing description it will be clear that, by my present improvement, I am not only enabled to do' away with the hinging of the frame at the middle, but I can also make all the adjustments, both for altering the length of the frame as well as the width thereof, by the loosening of the bolts 23. Moreover, in shipping my improved curtain stretcher, the absence of hinged connections makes it possible to ship the bars in bulk, since the parts can readily be assem-` bled without the use of any tool whatsoever.

I prefer to attach hooks 40, 41, at the ends of the bars 8, 9, whereby my improvement with the curtain stretched thereon may be suspended from any suitable clothes line 42, as shown in Fig. lof the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a curtain stretcher, the combination of the side bars 8, 9, having their inner ends abutting, the plate on the upper faces of said bars and bridging the abutting point, the bracket beneath said bars and having formed integral therewith a housing which extends close to the lower plane of said bars, the bolts passed through said plate, bars and bracket and engaging nuts on the under side of said bracket, the end cross bars abutted against the inner end faces of the bars 8, the straps around the ends of the bars 8, 9, and embracing the ends of the cross bars, the bolts passed i through the ends of said straps and cross bars cross bars, the plate resting upon the faces ofthe cross bars 1, 2, at the inner ends thereof and bridging the point of abutment, the bracket extending beneath the inner ends of the bars 1, 2, thereof and having formed integral therewith a housing extending a distance from the bars 1, 2, in the same plane with the first mentioned housing, the bolts passed through said plate, bars and bracket, and engaging nuts on the under side of said bracket, and spurs carried by the inner edges of said bars.

2. The combination of the end cross bars, the side bars 8, v9, having their inner ends abutting, the straps passed freely around the outer ends of the bars 8, 9, and secured to said cross bars, the plate 1.() and bracket 11 disposed onopposite sides of the bars 8, 9, and bridging the point of abutment, means for securing the bars 8, 9, the plate and the' bracket rigidly together, the housing integral with said bracket and depending immediately below the bars 8, 9, the side bars 1, 2, having their outer extremities adjustably secured to the other ends of said cross bars the inner ends of said bars 1, 2, being in abutment and secured in this position by bolts passed through clamping members disposed above and below said bars 1, 2, and bridging the point of abutment, the housing integral with the lower clamping member and depending at a distance from the bars 1, 2, into the same plane with. the' first mentionedl housing, the inner edges of the cross bars and the bars 8, 9, having T-grooves within which are assembled the headed'portions of spurs, while the inner edges ofthe bars 1, 2, are likewise provided with T-grooves within which are arranged the headed portions of spurs the latter being bent downwardly so that the spur points will extend in the same plane with the points of the first named spurs.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HELENA A. SCHWARZ.

Witnesses:

CHAs. A. COLLEY, EDWARD F. COLE.

and against the lower faces 

